An elderly woman was seriously injured after she was pinned underneath a car on Prospect Street across from the Curtis B. Clark Building elderly housing complex Friday around 10:48 a.m.
The 85-year-old woman was flown to a Boston hospital after police and fire crews responded to and freed her, police Chief Edward Conley and fire Chief Eric Smith said in a joint statement.
Police and fire companies were dispatched to 99 Prospect St. for reports that a pedestrian had been struck by a motor vehicle.
Arriving crews found the woman with her lower legs pinned under the passenger side of a medium-size sedan, Smith and Conley said.
Firefighters used airbags to lift the vehicle and free the woman.
First responders on scene requested a MedFlight helicopter for a person with serious injuries, according to the Northeast Massachusetts Emergency Alerts Facebook page which monitors public safety radio broadcasts in the region.
The woman was taken to Coast Guard Station Gloucester on Harbor Loop where she was flown to Massachusetts General Hospital for treatment of injuries believed to be serious.
Police believe, through an initial investigation, the woman was getting into the car when the sedan’s driver started driving, pinning her underneath the car. The driver remained on scene and cooperated with police.
Police at the scene had used yellow caution tape to cordon off a gray Ford Taurus in the westbound lane, which carries traffic toward Washington Street. The car was sitting across the street and its front end was sitting at the crosswalk in front of the Curtis B. Clark Building. Agray bag could be seen lying on the sidewalk.
A group of about seven older residents gathered toward the rear of the car declined comment.
Police blocked off Prospect Street for about a block in either direction, diverting traffic down nearby streets.
The incident remains under investigation by the Gloucester Police Department. The Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section was notified.